LOS ANGELES (AP) -Kobe Bryant asked to be traded from the Lakers on Wednesday, a day after calling the team's front office "a mess," and said nothing will change his mind.

"I would like to be traded, yeah," Bryant told ESPN radio. "Tough as it is to come to that conclusion, there's no other alternative. It's rough, man, but I don't see how you can rebuild that trust. I just don't know how you can move forward in that type of situation."

Bryant, who helped the Lakers win three consecutive NBA championships, has four years left on the seven-year, $136.4 million contract he signed July 15, 2004. That was a day after Shaquille O'Neal was traded to the Miami Heat.

Bryant became infuriated Tuesday when a Los Angeles Times columnist quoted a Lakers "insider" as saying it was Bryant's insistence on getting away from O'Neal that prompted the trade to Miami.

Bryant also said he feels owner Jerry Buss misled him three years ago by telling him one thing and coach Phil Jackson something else about the team's goals.

Bryant said he was told the team would immediately try to rejoin the NBA's elite. But he said Jackson told him that Buss was not bringing him back as coach following the 2003-04 season because the Lakers were committed to reducing payroll and rebuilding long term.

"We are aware of the media reports. However, Kobe has not told us directly that he wants to be traded. We have made it very clear that we are building our team around Kobe and that we intend for him to be a Laker his entire career. We will speak directly to Kobe and until we do that, we will not comment publicly about this."

Bryant's agent, Rob Pelinka, did not respond to several messages left by The Associated Press.

The Lakers won championships from 2000-02 and reached the NBA finals again in 2004, losing to the Detroit Pistons in five games. The team was broken up at that time. O'Neal was traded, Jackson left and other stalwarts - Karl Malone, Gary Payton, Derek Fisher, Robert Horry and Rick Fox - went elsewhere or retired.

The Lakers failed to make the playoffs the following season. With Jackson returning before the 2005-06 campaign, they finished seventh in the Western Conference in each of the past two years, but were eliminated by Phoenix in the first round of the playoffs.

The Lakers appeared to be a title contender through the first half of this season, going 26-13 despite several injuries to key players. But they lost 27 of their last 43 games to finish 42-40 before losing to the Suns in five games.

Bryant urged the team at season's end to do what it takes to get back into contention. He essentially repeated those comments last weekend in an interview with the Los Angeles Times.

On Sunday, he suggested former Lakers general manager Jerry West should return. West left the team in the summer of 2000 and was succeeded by current GM Mitch Kupchak.

West, an employee of the Lakers for about 40 years as a player, coach and executive, is under contract as the Memphis Grizzlies' president until July 1. He turned 69 this week and has remained a close friend of Kupchak's. West has said he has "no plans to seek employment with any other organization."

It was West who brought Bryant to the Lakers, trading center Vlade Divac to Charlotte in the summer of 1996 for the rights to Bryant - the 13th pick in the NBA draft. Bryant was only 17 at the time.

On Tuesday, Bryant did a series of radio interviews bashing the Lakers.

"That place is a mess," Bryant said, referring to the Lakers' front office. "If we're not making strides here to improve this team right now, to be aggressive in that nature, then what's the point of having me here?"

That same day the 74-year-old Buss was arrested in Carlsbad for investigation of driving under the influence of alcohol. He was released later in the day.

Bryant earned $17.72 million last season and is owed $88.6 million over the next four years. He can terminate his contract following the 2008-09 season - a move that would leave $47.8 million on the table.

By requesting a trade, Bryant would obviously waive his no-trade clause, but he has a trade clause in his contract that is believed to add about $13 million to his total contract value, a cost to be absorbed by any team that acquires him.

That money would be paid out similar to a signing bonus and would not count toward the salary cap. The Lakers had to pay a similar fee to Lamar Odom when they acquired him from Miami three years ago, paying him about $8 million.

Bryant has made the All-Star team in each of the past nine seasons, clearly establishing himself as an NBA great before age 30. Only one active NBA player, Kevin Garnett, has a longer tenure with one team than Bryant. Garnett has played 12 seasons for Minnesota.

The Lakers won 20 playoff series from 2000-04 but have won four postseason games and no series in the past three years. Since O'Neal left, they've received little from the draft, trades or free agency.

Bryant has stated repeatedly in the past that he was a Lakers' fan since childhood, and wanted to be a Laker for life. But the O'Neal matter and his feeling of being misled by Buss appear have changed things.

"The fact of the matter is that many people don't know what really went down when I was approaching free agency because I have stayed quiet about it this whole time," Bryant wrote on his Web site. "The real facts are that Dr. Buss requested a meeting with me during the '04 season long before I opted out of my contract, and he told me he had already decided not to extend Shaq, as he was concerned about Shaq's age, fitness and contract demands.

"Dr. Buss made it clear that his decision was final, his mind was made up, and no matter what I decided to do with free agency, he was still going to move Shaq."

O'Neal said on the Philadelphia Inquirer's Web site he believed Bryant "100 percent."

Bryant said he was considering signing with the Clippers and Chicago Bulls three years ago before hearing from Buss.

"Dr. Buss promised me he would rebuild right away, and I believed him," Bryant wrote. "That is why I put my trust in the Lakers. But when stuff like this is coming from the 'inside,' all I can do is hope that someone from the 'inside' comes forward to support me and set straight the facts of what really happened. This is the TRUTH."

Just as quickly as Kobe asked to be traded, he back tracked and said he wants to be a Laker for life. It upsets me that he has to do this in the playoffs after his team had been eliminated to put attention on himself and take the attention off of where it should be, which are the playoff games. Kobe is an attention whore and disgusts me. Ok, my rant is over....

_________________Regards,

Tim

May 31st, 2007, 9:20 am

theAlphaMale

Site Admin

Joined: August 6th, 2004, 1:25 amPosts: 4920Location: Hills of Auburn

Maybe we could trade Dale Davis and Terry Mills for Kobe

_________________Regards, Alpha|Lionbacker.com \(^o^)/"I date this girl for two years and then the nagging starts: I wanna know your name..." - Mike Binder

May 31st, 2007, 9:26 am

conversion02

RIP Killer

Joined: January 26th, 2005, 9:34 pmPosts: 10493Location: Sycamore, IL

Anybody that puts up the kind of numbers Kobe does can dictate whether or not they want out of a place. When you're the only player on your team that is a threat, you get sick of it as an individual and as a team, if you're a losing team at that.

Do I agree with that? No, but that's how it is in the sports world. When you're a star player on a sucky team (Randy Moss to an extent), you have that clout in the organization and among the fans to basically do what you want.

IMO the guy just wants to be on a team that is contending... I don't see anything wrong with that... He back-tracked a little when he said he wants to be a Laker for life, but he also wants to be on a team that is committed to winning games and excelling in the playoffs... I believe the guy is the best player in the NBA, hands down... No Steve Nash/Dirk/Shaq talk... Kobe Bryant is the most dominant player in the league... Lebron is getting there, but right now it's Bryant all the way... Additionally, he's getting towards the end of his career... I know he's still not all that old, but he's already talked about retiring... Not seriously or immenently, but he's discussed the fact that he's been in the league for near 10 years, and despite being young his body is beaten up. For those reasons I can't fault the guy for not wanting to go through some contract slashing, price cut, cost savings re-build and wanting to be on a contending team...